A family matter
by Starwarsrocks61
Summary: When Ash stumbles upon an injured girl in the forest, his whole life turns upside down. Who is this girl? How does she know Ash? Takes place in the Unova region with Cilan and Iris. *Edited*


**AN So this is my first Pokemon story... YAY! Anyway, I really liked how this turned out and I am planning on doing a sequel. So if you like this story why not follow and favorite and keep an eye out for the next one. Reviews are always nice too. Enjoy!**

 ***Edit* I just changed spelling and grammatical errors, along with some parts of the story that just didn't add up.**

Storm Clouds covered Unova's night skies. Ash, Cillan, and Iris had set up camp in a clearing, pretty far off the trail. Next to a huge tree, two sleeping bags sat on the ground and one sat on the branch. On the ground slept two boys, one with green hair, and the other with black hair and a Pikachu slept near his head, in the tree slept a girl with poofy purple hair and an Axew slept in her hair.

Suddenly the ears of the Pikachu perked up. The electric type pokemon's head swiveled around, looking for the location of the sound that had woken it up, before standing up and taking off in the sound's general direction. After running awhile, the Pikachu looked around before a low growl could be heard. The Pikachu jumped back when yellow eyes appeared, along with a large green dragon head. Realizing who it was, Pikachu tried to explain itself.

"Pika, Pikachu, Pi!" The green pokemon moved forward, growling menacingly, but was stopped but a female human voice.

"Rayquaza that's enough, Pikachu's a friend." Pikachu looked towards the voice, seeing a girl leaning on a tree. Immediately the dragon type returned to the girl. "You are Ash's Pikachu aren't you?"

"Pi." Pikachu said with a nod, walking over to the girl. As Pikachu advanced, the girl reached down to rub the spot behind his ears.

"It's good to see you again, it's been awhile hasn't it." The girl sat down leaning her back against the tree. "Are you staying close by?" Pikachu nodded again, ears perking up as he grabbed the girl's hand trying to lead her towards the camp. The girl shook her head. "You know I can't, it's too dangerous, and I swore I would do everything I could to keep Ash safe."

At that moment, an Umbreon ran up to the girl. "Bre Umbre, Breon."

"Good, thank you Umbreon. That means we can rest for the night." Umbreon looked at Pikachu, remembering her friend. She looked at her trainer longingly, hoping that they would spend some time together. "I guess we should find a better place to spend the night."

Pikachu nodded before trying, once again, to lead the girl to where his trainer was camped. "Pi pikachu chu, Pika pi."

The girl hesitated before shaking her head. "I can't, it'll put them in danger. We'll have to camp somewhere else." The girl said before trying to stand up, but collapsing almost instantly. Immediately, the Rayquaza snaked his way over to the girl on the ground, Umbreon laid down by her side. Pikachu stepped forward cautiously, worried about the female trainer. "I'll be okay, I've had much worse." Rayquaza growled, along with Umbreon. "Alright fine, I could use a little help. Pikachu, you better go get Ash, I don't think I can make it there on my own." Pikachu nodded, before taking off towards his trainer.

When Pikachu arrived at the campsite, he bounded over to his trainer, shaking his shoulder. The black haired kid slowly opened his eyes. "What is it Pikachu?"

"Pi, Pikachu?" He tried to motion that he wanted Ash to follow him.

"You want me to follow you?" Pikachu nodded. "Alright lead the way."

Pikachu lead Ash back over to the girl, who was only accompanied by an Umbreon. Ash stepped into view of the girl. "Hey, are you okay?"

The Umbreon picked its head up. "Breon?" She said before standing up. She started to growl, but when she saw Pikachu, she stopped.

Ash walked over to the girl, realizing that she was unconscious. Grabbing her shoulder, he tried to wake her up. "Hey, you got to wake up, can you hear me?" The girl let out a moan before opening her eyes. She looked around for a moment obviously confused before her eyes fell on Ash. She gave a slight start. "Hey, you're alright, I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Ash."

The girl looked him over, before hesitantly replying. "I'm Nicole."

"What happened, can you move?"

"I-I had a run in for a bad guy, and maybe with a little help."

Ash nodded, before bending down and grabbing her left arm and helping Nicole to her feet, before swinging her arm over his shoulder, and looping his arm around her back. He grabbed her back pack before walking with the girl. She winced as she moved but continued to walk. "So where are you from?"

"Originally, Pallet town, but I've moved around a lot."

"I'm from Pallet town too."

"Wow, that's crazy." She said with effort, it was obvious that her strength was fading fast.

"You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, with a little time."

"Well, I've got a friend is pretty good with medicine, I'm sure he'll fix you right up."

"I hope so."

They made it to the campsite, where Cilan and Iris were still sound asleep. Ash helped Nicole over to the tree they were staying by and setting her bag next to her, before moving to wake up Cilan. Umbreon immediately lay down by her trainer. Nicole's hand moved to Umbreon's head, rubbing it softly.

"Cilan, wake up, I need help."

Cilan mumbled before popping one eye open. "What is it Ash?"

"I need your help." Ash said looking over at Nicole.

Cilan followed Ash's gaze over to where a girl lay against a tree. Her head lolled against her chest, causing her black bangs cover her face. The rest of her hair was pulled back into a braid that swept over her shoulder. Maybe at one point it had looked nice, but now it was falling apart and looked rather ratty. Her clothing was simple, a black jacket with a blue tank top underneath, jeans, and belt that held all of her pokeballs. There were many tears in her pants and a few on her stomach that let him see through to her skin underneath, and her jacket sleeves had patches missing in them.

"Who is she and what happened," Cilan asked as he walked over to assess the damage.

"Her name's Nicole, she said she ran into some bad guy. Pikachu found her and lead me to her when she couldn't move on her own."

"Alright, I'll see what I could do." He moved closer to the girl, grabbing her shoulder gently. "Nicole, can you hear me? I need you to wake up." The girl slowly opened her chocolate eyes. "Hey, where are you hurt?"

The girl groggily looked around, before she finally seemed to focus on Cilan. "My chest and my head," she muttered. Cilan nodded before feeling her rib cage right under her heart. Nicole let out a pained gasp.

"I think you have a couple bruised ribs, maybe even cracked." He pulled out a flash light and shined it into Nicole's eyes." "And a minor concussion. What happened?"

"I just got in a fight and took a bad hit." She said as Cilan dug through his bag for some medicine. "I'm sorry for causing you all this trouble."

"It's no problem, here take this." He said handing her a pill and a small bottle of water.

"Ugh, I hate medicine." Cilan let out a laugh, at the face she pulled as she swallowed the pill. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing; it's just you sound so much like Ash." Nicole's eyes fell down again, not looking up. "Hey, what's the matter?"

She looked back up. "Nothing, just… Nothing, I'm fine."

Cilan nodded slowly, not entirely believing her story. "Well, let's get these wrapped and then you can go back to sleep." Nicole nodded, trying to sit up but let out a slow gasp as she moved. "Easy, try not to move too much."

"Yeah I figured that out." She said softly, with a light chuckle in her voice.

Cilan turned around to grab the bandages from his bag, while Ash helped Nicole sit up; he turned around to see that Nicole's head had lolled against her chest. Ash shook her shoulder gently, "Come on Nicole, you got to stay awake until Cilan gets done." She opened her eyes half way, looking at Ash before nodding.

Cilan got to work quickly, know that the girl's strength was fading fast. He tied the last knot in the bandage, and looked over his handy work. "All done, we should get you in a sleeping bag before you go to sleep, we don't want you catching a cold on top of your injuries.

She nodded and looked back over at Ash. "I have one in my bag." Ash nodded, reaching down to open her bag and he pulled out her sleeping bag and set it up next to his. Cilan and Ash helped Nicole to her feet and helped her over to her sleeping bag. "I can't thank you guys enough for everything you guys have done, especially for a complete stranger."

"It's no problem really." Cilan said, rubbing the back of his head.

Ash nodded. "No big deal." Pikachu walked over to the Umbreon and Nicole. Nicole rubbed the spot behind its ears. "Man Pikachu really likes you."

Nicole looked back up at Ash. "Yeah well I guess I have that affect on pokemon."

"Well time to get some rest. We can talk more in the morning." Cilan said as he got in his sleeping bag.

"Yeah," Ash said with a yawn, before looking up. "Man I can't believe that Iris just slept through all that."

"She must've been tired." Cilan said. He looked back over at Nicole to see that she had fallen into a restless sleep.

"Yeah well goodnight Cilan."

"Night Ash."

Nicole rode Rayquaza through the rain. She glanced nervously behind her trying to make sure she wasn't being followed. She looked forward just in time to see a Salamence in her flight path. Thunder boomed as the blue dragon started charging its hyper beam. "Rayquaza! Dodge!" Nicole yelled out just in time for the green dragon to dive, causing the orange beam to fly over Nicole's head.

"Rayquaza, quick use Dragon claw." The green dragon charged the smaller blue one, slashing at him. The blue dragon crashed to the ground. "Hurry we've got to get out of here- Ahh" Nicole was cut off by a Skarmory jerking her off Rayquaza's and slaming her hard into the ground.

Nicole gasped out as her chest and head exploded in pain. She looked up and saw a shadow walking towards her through the trees. She looked up towards the sky and saw Rayquaza flying towards her at top speed. "No Rayquaza don't!"She yelled out. "Get out of here!" The dragon stopped and looked at her curiously. "Run!" She yelled out. Rayquaza growled before flying off.

"It doesn't matter how far he runs, I will have him." The man said, his black trench coat blowing in the wind, the Salamence walking by his side. "Skarmory, Salamence follow Rayquaza and bring him down." With a growl and a Screech the two flying types took off.

Nicole struggled to stand, leaning heavily against a nearby tree. She pushed off and forced herself to stand, ignoring the pain, adrenaline pumping in her veins. She pulled out a pokeball and threw it out in front of her. "Umbreon, come out and use shadow ball." The black pokemon erupted from the red laser of the poke ball, and hurled a dark ball towards the man.

Just before the ball hit him though, a Mightyena jumped in front of the ball and took the hit. The pokemon growled as it ran in front of his master. "Fight all you want. Rayquaza will be mine."

"Umbreon use quick attack!" The smaller pokemon rammed into the bigger on. "Now use dark pulse!" Mightyena went flying into a tree, where it sat there in a daze.

The man growled. "No matter. Houndoom come out and use flame thrower on the girl."

The pokemon emerged and attacked Nicole. "Umbreon, let's get out of here." Nicole said running away from man and the fire, slipping on the muddy terrain. Behind her, the Mightyena got up and let out a growl. "Chase after them. Bring them back." The man ordered and the two dog pokemon growled in response before chasing after the fleeing girl.

Nicole ran as fast as she could. A blast of fire and a shadow ball flew at her, landing inches away from her on either side. She pulled out another pokeball. "Luxio use thunder bolt, Umbreon use dark pulse." The two pokemon turned around and attacked the two pokemon following them. Nicole looked behind her in time to see an explosion. "Come on you two we have to keep moving."

They ran for as long as they could, but they were cut off by a cliff. Nicole turned around to take off in a different direction but found herself surrounded by Houndoom and Mightyena. She took a few steps back but she had run out of land. The two dogs advanced on her.

Suddenly a mighty roar sounded, Nicole looked up in shock to see Rayquaza flying towards her. She smiled, and pulled out two pokeballs. " Umbreon, Luxio return," she put the two poke balls away and turned around and jumped off the cliff.

Nicole woke up with a start, her eyes snapped open. She looked around, blinking her eyes slightly to adjust to the bright sunlight. She was in a clearing, underneath one of the many big trees that surrounded the area; there was also a river that ran along the edge of the clearing, separating it from the forest. Slowly, she pushed herself up, noting that her ribs didn't hurt nearly as much, though they still hurt.

"Look who's finally awake." Nicole looked over to see Cilan and Ash sitting at a table with a purpled haired girl, "You hungry?"

Slowly she stood up and walked over to the table. "How are you feeling today?" Cilan asked as he put a plate full of food in front of her.

"Much better," Nicole with a smile. She looked over at the girl. "I don't think we've meet, my name is Nicole."

The girl smiled, "My name's Iris, nice to meet you."

Nicole looked around and noticed that her pokemon was not near her. "Where's Umbreon?"

"It went off to play with my Axew and Ash's Pikachu. " The Iris answered.

Nicole nodded before taking a bite of the food on the plate. "Wow this food is amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it." Cilan said.

"Yeah, Cilan is the best cook!" Ash said with a mouth full of food.

Nicole laughed carefully so she didn't her ribs wouldn't hurt. She took another bite of food, and swallowed. Umbreon ran up to her and nuzzled her belt. She laughed and rubbed Umbreon head. "Alright, do you guys mind if I let my other pokemon out?"

"Go right ahead. I even have some pokemon food if they're hungry."

Nicole nodded and pulled out four pokeballs, releasing Luxio, Feraligator, Absol, and Swellow.

Umbreon ran over to Luxio and led it over to Pikachu and the others, Absol watched them as chase each other around. Feraligator walked over to a tree and leaned against it and slept. Swellow was about to take off but Nicole stopped it. "Would you mind going and checking on Rayquaza for me? Just make sure he wasn't badly hurt the other night?" Nicole whispered to the bird. Swellow nodded and took off towards the forest.

"Wow you have some awesome pokemon." Ash said. "It's been a while since I've seen a Feraligator."

"Wanna have a battle." Nicole asked.

"Sure let's go for it. Cilan can be the referee."

Nicole and Ash stood at opposite ends of the clearing. "Let's make this two on two, shall we." Nicole asked.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Let the battle begin!" Cilan announced.

"Absol, I choose you!" "Oshawott come on out!" Ash and Nicole called out at the same time.

"You can have the first move Ash!"

"Alright Oshawott, let's start this off with a hydro pump!" Oshawott sent a high speed blast of water towards Absol.

"Absol use double team!"

Oshawott was quickly surrounded by an army of Absol. He started to get nervous, "Oshawott stay calm and hit them all with Razor Shell." Oshawott attacked all of the doubles until he was left with only one. "Alright Oshawott use Aqua Jet!"

The attack hit its mark and slammed Absol back. "Absol are you alright." When the white pokemon nodded that it was okay, Nicole smiled. "Alright the hit 'em with a Night slash!" The attack knocked Oshawott back into a tree, leaving Oshawott senseless. Nicole took this moment for her advantage. "Absol use quick attack!"

"Oshawott hurry and dodge it," but Oshawott was too slow and was hit by Absol's quick attack, effectively knocking it out.

"Oshawott is unable to battle." Cilan announced to the group.

Both Nicole and Ash recalled their pokemon. "You're a really good trainer." Nicole said as she pulled out her next pokeball.

"You too, but don't think this is over just yet." Ash said.

"Let's go, Umbreon!" Nicole said as her Umbreon ran onto the field.

"Pikachu, I'm counting on you, buddy." Ash called as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and in front of Umbreon. "Alright, Pikachu use thunderbolt." Pikachu charged up and unleashed it's attack.

"Umbreon dodge and use quick attack." Umbreon rammed into Pikachu, sending it flying backwards, but Pikachu landed on its feet.

"You okay Pikachu?" Ash asked, Pikachu nodded. "Great use volt tackle."

The hit made direct contact. "Ah, Umbreon are you okay?" Umbreon struggled to its feet before nodding. "Alright then use Shadow Ball!"

"Pikachu use electro ball!" The two attacks collided and caused an explosion. Both pokemon flew backwards, dust flew across the meadow. When the dust cleared, both pokemon were standing but had received heavy damage and breathing heavily. Pikachu was the first to fall.

"Pikachu is unable to battle."

"Way to go Umbreon, return." Nicole brought out her pokeball and recalled her pokemon. "You deserve a good rest."

"Pikachu, you okay." Ash said kneeling down next to his pokemon

"Pika pi." Pikachu said with a nod.

"Good you get some rest buddy." Ash picked up Pikachu.

"That was a great battle Ash; you're a very strong trainer." Nicole said with what sounded like pride in her voice.

"Thanks you're not so bad yourself." Ash said and was interrupted by his stomach growling.

"I guess that battle worked up an appetite." Nicole said with a laugh, causing Ash to rub the back of his head nervously, while Iris muttered something about Ash being such a little kid, which only made Nicole laugh harder, but she suddenly stopped, wrapping her arms around her chest and groaning.

"Hey are you okay?" Ash asked walking over to her quickly followed closely by Cilan and Iris.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just laughed a little bit too hard." She said with a pained voice.

"Why don't I go make us some lunch and you guys take a break." Cilan said, walking towards the table.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Nicole said, recovering and following. Nicole followed Ash, Iris, and Cilan towards the table, but was stopped by Swellow. "Did you find him?"

"Swellow, swell" The pokemon responded, pointing towards the forest.

"Alright take me to him." She said as Swellow took off towards the sky. Nicole ran over to the group was gathered around the table. "I'm going to go look around the forest for a little before lunch."

"Do you want some company?" Iris asked.

"No, I'd rather just be alone if you don't mind." The trio nodded and Nicole smiled, happy that Iris didn't push to come with her. "Absol, you want to come?"

"Sol, Absol." The white pokemon said running over to its trainer and she walked into the forest.

They followed Swellow through the trees. It wasn't for too long when they heard a low grow, that caused Nicole to smile. "It's okay Rayquaza, it's just me, you can come out now." She called out.

A few seconds later, the massive green dragon appeared through the trees. He floated over to Nicole and sniffed and the bandages around her chest."I had a friend patch me up. I'm okay now, no need to worry. Here," Nicole said, pulling out a Super Potion and spraying it over Rayquaza's wounds. "Better?" Rayquaza growled contently, before looked up towards the sky. "I know we need to get moving. I'm planning on leaving today after lunch, maybe make it to the next town and get some supplies before moving on."

"Absol, sol ab!" Absol said with a growl, looking off into the forest.

"What is it boy?" Nicole said trying to see where he was looking. "Who's there?" When there was no answer, Nicole pulled out her Master Ball. "Okay, Rayquaza I know that you hate being in the pokeball, but it's the only way I can make sure you stay safe, so please just for a little bit?" Rayquaza gave a reluctant look before nodding its head and allowing Nicole to return it. "Alright Absol, let's get back to camp and pack up, it's time to leave."

They ran back to camp, right as Cilan was dishing out food. "Just in time, have a nice walk?"

"Um yeah, it was nice."

"Glad to hear it. Come have a seat and dig in."

Nicole sat down next to Ash and started to eat. Despite the earlier worry, she couldn't help but enjoy the food. She quickly finished and leaned back in her seat. "Thank you Cilan that was great!" Iris and Ash nodded their heads in agreement.

"So Nicole if you don't mind me asking, who attacked you." Ash asked causing Iris and Cilan's gaze to fall on her.

"Oh it was…" _'what do I tell them, I can't say a pokemon hunter because that would leave to many questions.'_ "I don't know, I didn't get a good look at him."

"Oh, they didn't happen to call themselves Team Rocket did they?" Iris asked curiously.

"No he wasn't with team rocket. I was just lucky I got away when I did, or I could've been in worse shape."

"You were also lucky that Pikachu found you." Ash said looking over where the pokemon were playing.

"Yeah… extremely lucky." Nicole said casting a glance at Ash's face with pride. _'Mom raised a pretty good kid.'_ Nicole thought happily. _'I just wish I could've been there to grow up with him.'_ Nicole looked away sadly.

"Nicole, are you okay?" Iris asked, cutting off her train of thought. "You kinda zone out there for a second."

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, just got lost in thought there for a moment." Nicole said rubbing the back of her head. Nicole stood up from the table and bowed her head slightly towards Cilan. "Thank you for the wonderful meal and for everything but I need to keep moving."

"What, you're leaving already?" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, I don't like staying in one place for too long."

"Well where are you headed?" Iris asked.

"The next town to restock on supplies."

Cilan pulled out a digital map. "It looks like the next town is at least a day's walk from here. It would be wise to stay here on more night then move in the morning."

"We can travel together!" Ash exclaimed. "Then our pokemon can play a little longer."

"Alright but just one more night, then I really need to get going."

"Alright!" Ash and Iris exclaimed. Nicole rolled her eyes slightly, but laughed at the energy of the two younger kids.

None of them notice the two pairs of eyes watching them from the bushes. The two pokemon turned and took off towards a shadowy man far off in the distance. "Hound, houndoom doom." Said the dog pokemon with horns growing out of its head.

"Yena, Mighty." The second dog growled out.

A menacing a laugh sounded from the shadowy man. "Very good, and you're sure she has the dragon in the pokeball." The two dogs nodded. "Good, return." He said as a pulled out two pokeballs and the two dog pokemon disappeared in a flash of red. "I told that girl that no matter how far she'd run, I would follow. That Rayquaza will be mine."

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. The group swam in the river and had a huge water fight. Nicole had Feraligator use a soft water gun aimed at Ash. The look on Ash's face was enough to make the whole group laugh.

Dinner was a welcome sight after the appetite the small group had worked up, and tasted twice as good as it looked. "Man I'm stuffed!" Ash exclaimed with a happy look on his face.

"You can say that again." Nicole said, leaning back against her chair. "My compliments to the chef."

"Why thank you." Cilan said.

"Awww! Look as the sky!" Iris exclaimed. They all turned to look and saw the sunset that had lit the sky up with vibrant colors of orange and red.

"That's beautiful, look at the colors!" Nicole exclaimed. "It kind of reminds me of a hyper beam."

"Yeah it does!" Iris agreed.

Nicole smiled at that thought. Hyper beam was one of her favorite moves, even though it was constantly being shot at her. It was one of her go to moves with Rayquaza or Feraligator and it was one of the first moves she had even seen Rayquaza use.

She pulled out her Master Ball that held the powerful dragon and flying type pokemon. She remembered the day she left on her quest with Rayquaza. She promised that she would keep him safe and he promised to keep her safe. True to his word, he followed her long before she had ever gotten the Master Ball to capture him, and whenever she got hurt, he would take her somewhere safe to heal. When she finally got the master ball from Prof. Brich, she offered to capture Rayquaza so that he could always be with her, he accepted.

"Hey Nicole, what's that?" Ash asked seeing the ball she was holding.

"Oh, it was a gift given to me by a… I guess you could say he was my father." She said, sliding the orb back into its spot on her belt.

"So he wasn't your really dad?" Iris asked, to which Nicole nodded. "So what happened to your real dad?" The question brought a dark look to Nicole's face.

"He was never around; I was practically on my own until I ran into Prof. Birch. He took me in and gave me a real home."

"Oh wow. I'm sor-"

"No need to apologize, you didn't know."

The group fell into an awkward silence as they watched the rest of the sunset. Nicole yawned and stretched. "Well, I'm going to hit the sack, big day tomorrow and all."

"I think the rest of us should follow your example." Cilan said, and with that the entire group got in bed.

Nicole woke up to the sound of a twig snapping. She sat up and looked around, but it was too dark to see anything. Too late she realized what was happening as the Houndoom erupted from the bushes.

Nicole got up quick and made her way over to where her pokeballs were but was cut off by a Mightyena. She took a few steps backwards towards the now awake trio to see that Skarmory and Salamence were there as well.

"Nicole what's going on? What are these pokemon doing here?" Iris asked.

Before Nicole could even answer, a man walked into the clearing. "Yes Nicole, please explain why me and my pokemon are here."

"Grr… Give up! As I told you earlier you can't have my pokemon."

"Well then it's a good thing that I don't need your permission. Mightyena, bring me her pokeballs."

"No don't touch those!" Nicole said running in front of Mightyena's path and picking up her belt.

"Skarmory, take the girl down." The man said and the Skarmory flew over and grabbed Nicole by the shoulders and slammed her in the ground. "Try again Mightyena."

Mightyena walked over and grabbed the belt with its teeth and tugged, but Nicole's grip wasn't giving out. "I already told you, you can't have my pok- Ahh!" Skarmory's claws dug into Nicole's flesh, causing Nicole's grip to weaken enough for Mightyena to yank the belt out of her hand. "No!" She cried out.

"I told you, I would have your pokemon, despite your petty efforts." The man said as the dark dog deposited the belt in his hands.

"Nicole!" Ash cried out trying to run over to help, but he was cut off by Houndoom.

Skarmory's grip tightened, causing Nicole to cry out again. The man plucked the master ball off of its spot on the belt and enlarged it. "Now, let's see what we've caught ourselves." He said opening the ball, but nothing came out.

A laugh erupted from Nicole. "You really thought it would be that easy to get my pokemon? You really thought that I wouldn't be prepared? Man, are you stupid!" Nicole said laughing some more, but was cut off by Skarmory tightening its grip, claws sinking deeper into her flesh.

"Where is it?!" The man demanded. "Summon the beast!"

"Not on your life!"

"Perhaps you need some persuasion. Mightyena attack the other girl with a shadow ball, Houndoom hit them with a shadow ball as well."

"No, leave them alone!" Nicole yelled as the world suddenly slowed down, from Nicole's point of view. As the two attacks flew towards Iris, Ash ran and pushed her out of the way, taking the hit for her. He flew back wards until he slammed into a tree.

"Ash!" Iris and Cilan exclaimed running towards their fallen friend. Nicole's eyes were wide with shock and anger.

"Now maybe you'll be a little bit more willing to help me out. Summon the dragon!"

Nicole struggled against Skarmory's claws, causing them to do more damage. "You want to face him, then here you go! Rayquaza, use Hyper beam!" She cried out in anger. Suddenly a Hyper beam flew out of nowhere, blowing Skarmory off of Nicole and knocking it out. Iris and Cilan watched in amazement and Nicole struggled to her feet. Blood trailed down the corner of her mouth and her shoulders but she stood tall.

"Finally," The man said with a smirk. He pulled out another poke ball and threw it. "Salamance, come out and show them your power!" With a flash of blue, the blue red dragon appeared. He let out a roar that shook the leaves in the trees and glared at Nicole, growling. Rayquaza dashed in front of Nicole, and roared back at Salamence. "Salamence use Dragon Breathe!"

"Rayquaza dodge it and use Extreme speed." The Dragon did as told and struck Salamence square in the chest, slamming it backwards through a line of trees.

"Salamence use Crunch!" The man yelled. "Then use Dragon Tail."

The attacks hit their mark, slamming Rayquaza back into a tree off to Nicole's right. "Rayquaza! Are you okay?" The dragon growled as it picked itself back up. "Good then hit him with Dragon Pulse!"

Salamence was thrown back once again, causing the man to growl in frustration. "Enough of this, Houndoom use Flamethrower, Mightyena, use Shadow Ball, and Salamence use Hyper beam. Aim straight for the girl!"

The attacks flew towards Nicole at an agonizingly slow pace. She could hear Iris, Cilan, and Ash calling her name, but none of them could do anything to help her. She threw her hands up in an attempt to protect herself and waited for the attack. Suddenly she felt something grab her and jerked her out of the way. She opened her eyes to see Rayquaza holding her tight and glaring at the attacking pokemon venomously. He deposited Nicole a little ways away and took off faster than her eyes could follow. _'Extreme speed'_ part of her mind whispered. Within moments, Houndoom, and Mightyena were flung into Salamence, sending them all crashing backwards and knocking them out.

The man ran over to his pokemon. "Get up, you still have to fight." Rayquaza floated over to Nicole and let out a growl. "No, I will not lose! You cannot beat me!"

"Turns out I just did!" Nicole said venomously, Rayquaza let out another low roar.

He glared at her and for a moment, the two had a stare down, when suddenly the man let out a cruel laugh. "You're growing up to be more like me then you think. You'll take after your dear old dad before long, and then you'll willingly give me that beast."

Nicole's anger flared again. "You're not my father!" She screamed! "You lost that right too many years ago and I will never be like you! Rayquaza finish this off with Hyper Beam!"

The blast that erupted from the green dragon's mouth was so enormous that it blew the leaves off of all the surrounding trees. The man and his pokemon went flying, very similar to Team Rocket's very own blast off.

Nicole's breaths came out in labored pants, but she wasn't quite done yet. She limped over to where Ash sat with Cilan and Iris, he looked like he was in a lot of pain, but that was to be expected, he was hit with two Shadow balls only moments ago. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay," he slurred.

Cilan shook off his shock and pulled up Ash's shirt, despite the boys squirming, revealing where the two shadow balls made contact. The skin was a painful looking dark blueish purple. "That's pretty bad, but nothing that can't be fixed with a little patience."

Iris looked up at the towering green dragon that had raised his head to check for any on coming threats. "Wow. How did you ever manage to capture such a powerful dragon?"

"He kind of just started following me. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm his kid or something. He's kind of like an overprotective parent in some ways." Nicole said weakly, glancing at Rayquaza. "What does Ash need to heal, Cilan?"

"Rest mostly, but some ice wouldn't hurt." Cilan said. "But sadly we don't have any."

"Pikachu, can you go get my belt from where that man dropped it?" Pikachu nodded and retrieved the belt. "Thank you." She pulled off a pokeball and threw it, and out popped Feraligatr. "Feraligatr, would you mind making some ice to put on Ash?" The water type nodded and headed off to make some. They all glanced over at Ash, who had gone quiet all of the sudden, to find him unconscious. "We should try to get him into his sleeping bag, he'll be more comfortable."

Cilan nodded. "But how, I don't want to jar his injuries too much."

"Rayquaza can carry him, he'll be careful." Rayquaza let out a growl, but it definitely didn't sound menacing. He glanced at Nicole and let out another growl, it sounded like an order. Nicole nodded and Rayquaza brought his back over to her and Nicole slowly climbed on. "Alright, nice and easy buddy." Rayquaza slowly picked up Ash and made his way over to the sleeping bags and set Ash down gently and Nicole slid off of his back and sat down on her own bed. Rayquaza settled next to Nicole.

Feraligatr walked back over to the group with ice in hand. Cilan grabbed a rag and put a few pieces inside and set in on Ash's stomach and chest area, causing the younger boy to flinch slightly. "There that'll help bring down the swelling. Now, let's check out your wounds Nicole."

"I'm fine, nothing a little rest won't fi-" Nicole stopped at the look that she was getting from Rayquaza. "Alright, go ahead."

Cilan helped Nicole into a sitting position and helped Nicole slip off her shredded jacket, revealing a tank top underneath. "These cuts are deep, but they don't look like they'll require stitches. Let me go get some more bandages," Nicole nodded.

"Nicole, why didn't you just tell us that you were being chased by a hunter?" Iris asked, as she took a seat between Ash and Nicole.

"I guess it was because I was worried that you guys would get caught up in all of this. I also didn't want to reveal Rayquaza and telling you that I was being chased by a hunter would've brought up too many questions."

"You barely knew us, why would you worry about us."

"Because I may barely know you, but I've known Ash for quite awhile."

"Really, he never mentioned you."

"That's because we never meet. I always kept my distance in case that hunter was close by."

"Why?"

"Because-"

"Alright here are those bandages." Cilan said walking over to Nicole's side. "Hold out your arm, if you would." Nicole did as she was asked and tried her very best not to squirm while Cilan worked.

"So you were saying." Iris said, trying to get the girl to continue.

"Look, I know I haven't been very honest with you guys, but I'd rather tell my back story when Ash is awake. He'll have questions too."

"I think that's very wise." Cilan said, as he finished her right arm and began to move over to do her left.

"I know you guys don't really have a reason to, but, I'm asking you to trust me."

Cilan and Iris looked at each other for a moment, then turned back and smiled. "Of course, you've more than earned it." Cilan said kindly, returning to his work on her arm.

"Anyone who has earned the trust of a legendary dragon has earned my trust." Iris agreed, Axew popping out of her hair and nodded.

A moan broke up the conversation and the groups eyes fixated on Ash, as his eye lids fluttered for a moment before opening fully. He blinked a couple of times before looking back over at the group. He tried to sit up but stopped as the pain flared through him. "Easy Ash," Iris said, pushing him gently back down. "You should try to move just yet."

Ash's eyes were unfocused and pain filled, and Nicole swore that she would never let that man touch him ever again. "You should rest now Ash. Everything's okay now." Nicole said soothingly, with an older sister voice. Ash probably didn't even register the words as his eyes closed again and he fell asleep.

"I think I figured out what's going on here." Cilan said, finishing the bandage on Nicole's shoulder. "Would you mind if I took a guess."

"Go for it." Nicole said and she lowered her arm.

"You're related to Ash, aren't you?"Nicole simply nodded, which brought up more questions. "If I may ask, how exactly?"

"I'm his older sister," The girl said quietly.

"Then how come Ash didn't know who you were?" Iris asked.

"I didn't grow up with him. My dad took me away before he was old enough to remember me."

"I remember that man saying something about him being your father." Iris said, and glanced at Nicole and Ash. "And you too do look a lot alike. How did I not notice this before?"

"Like I said, I'll explain everything, when Ash is awake."

The two nodded as Cilan repositioned his body to check Nicole's ribs. "Would you mind lifting up your shirt?" Nicole picked up the bottom and pulled it up, revealing a black and blue chest that could rival Ash's. "Skarmory did quite a bit of damage when it slammed you to the ground." Nicole nodded shortly. "Lay down and let's get some ice on these." Nicole did as she was ordered and laid down, with Cilan's help.

When the cold ice fabric that held the ice touch Nicole's skin, she couldn't help but shiver. "You should get some rest. In fact we all should." Cilan said simply. Nicole grabbed Feraligatr's pokeball and held it towards were the pokemon stood patiently waiting for orders. "Get some rest, thank you Feraligatr."

Nicole glanced over at Ash's sleeping form and sighed. _'How could I have let this happen?'_ She thought bitterly. "Sleep now Nicole." Cilan said as he drug his sleep bag closer to the injured pair. "He'll be fine with a little rest."

Nicole let out one last sigh and closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was Rayquaza curling around the group protectively, glancing around to look for any danger.

Nicole woke up a couple hours later; she looked around slowly, not daring to sit up. Rayquaza lay off of her left, resting his head by her head, yellow eyes closed. Ash lay off to her right, with Iris and Cilan sitting near his side, talking amongst themselves. Ash was staring up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. When he saw she was awake he smiled, before looking back up towards the sky.

The first thing she noticed was that she really didn't feel anything. She sat up, pain suddenly flaring. She groaned softly and rested her hand on her ribs as she laid back down. Rayquaza's eyes snapped open and he lifted his head and stared and Nicole, worry obvious in his eyes. "I'm alright boy, just a little sore." She heard footsteps coming her way; she looked over and saw Cilan and Iris walking towards her.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Cilan said cheerfully, smiling down at Nicole.

"How long was I out?" Nicole asked softly, still trying to gather her wits.

"Well we went to bed at around 6 'o' clock and now it's around noonish."

"That long, huh?"

Cilan nodded. "How're you feeling?"

"Well my chest and shoulders still hurt, but it's much better than yesterday."

"I'm glad to hear that, what about you Ash?"

"My ribs are sore, but I'll be alright."

"Well I'll get some pain medicine and be right back." Cilan walked over to where the tables were set up.

"Nicole, do you want to release the rest of your pokemon so that they can eat?" Iris asked.

"Alright," she said as she leaned over and grabbed the rest of her Pokeballs. "Alright guys," she said when they all appeared. "Be good, and don't cause too much trouble."

Nicole looked over at Ash who was staring at the sky. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess, it was never my intention."

"Was your intention to tell me that you were my sister?" Ash asked, bitterly.

Nicole glanced up at the sky. "There's something you need to understand Ash, that man fought last night, he's my- our father, biologically. A couple weeks after you were born, he demanded that he got to see his kid. He didn't know you were born. I was six at the time but even then I knew he was a terrible man. I didn't want him to get his hands on you. So I gave myself to him and told mom to hide and not let you know anything about the two of us. I didn't want you to have the same life I did."

"Why though, why couldn't you tell me?"

"I grew up with an abusive dad who wanted me to become a pokemon hunter like him. I didn't want you to grow up knowing that he was your father. I wanted you to believe that your dad was a great pokemon trainer. I wanted you to live a long happy life with mom. I didn't want you to get hurt."

Ash was silent for awhile, but Nicole expected that. His whole world was probably turned upside down, that's not something that you just say 'Okay' to and then move on like nothing is wrong. She waited in the silence for him to say he hated her or somethi-. "Thank you."

That wasn't the reaction Nicole was expecting. "Wh-what?"

"I said thank you. You gave up your life so that I could have one."

Nicole smiled at that. "What are older sisters for?"

"Here's that medicine Ash, did you want some too Nicole?" Cilan asked as he handed the pills to Ash.

Nicole shook her head. "Thank you though."

"Yeah, thanks Cilan."

He nodded with a smile, and he took a seat on the ground next to the group. Nicole leaned back against Rayquaza, the dragon hummed happily. "How did you meet Rayquaza?" Ash asked, after a moment of silence.

Iris made her way back over to the group and took a seat next to Cilan, obviously interested in her answer. Nicole chuckled nervously, "Where do I start? It was a long time ago, when I ran away…"

A rain soaked Nicole ran as fast as her nine year old legs could carry her, even though she kept losing grip on the rain soaked mountain. Her rain coat was covered in tears and its left shoulder was hanging on by threads. She could hear the foot steps behind her closing in on her. She took a sharp turn to the left and continued down a steep hill. The ground under her feet turned even soggier, she struggled against the mud as it pulled at her shoes.

Suddenly, she tripped and slid down the mountain, branches cutting her face and arms as she fell. As she tried to grab anything that would slow her fall, the rest of her sleeve broke off and she felt a branch make a deep cut in her arm. She finally came to a stop near a cave entrance, and Nicole rubbed her head as she looked down at her arm. Blood was slowly making its way down her arm. She looked around to see where she was. She saw a cave and heard the voices of her assailants not far away.

Without a second thought she ran into the cave and went as deep as she dared and hid behind a few rocks. Her breath caught as she saw their outlines outside the cave mouth. The two figures looked around for a moment before running off in a new direction. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them run off in another direction.

Suddenly there was a deep growl the sounded through the cave. Nicole swung around to find that she was not alone in the cave. A long shape sat in the darkness, its yellow eyes glared down at her. Nicole pressed her back against the rocks behind her and let out a whimper of fear. As the shape got closer she could make out a color, it was green with yellow strips running along its snake like body. Nicole's eyes widened as she recognized the pokemon from her dad's stories.

"Please Rayquaza," She cried softly, tears running down her face. "Please don't hurt me. I was just trying to hide, please." Rayquaza let out another growl, but this one didn't sound as menacing. He got closer to the young girl and sniffed her face, causing her to whimper in fear once again, closing her eyes tightly.

When she realized that he wasn't attacking, she opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes were locked on the cut on her arm. He finally looked up and stared at her with deep yellow eyes that held more worry then anything else."You mean, you're not going to hurt me?" Rayquaza rumbled in response, blowing a puff of air on her face. "Thank yo-" Nicole was cut off by two growls at the entrance of the cave. Her head spun around to see the shadows had appeared again. A flash of lightning revealed a Houndoom and Mightyena.

The two growling pokemon made their way towards the girl, growling viciously. The girl let out another whimper of fear and dashed behind Rayquaza, praying that the dragon wouldn't leave her to the mercy of the two pokemon. Her prayers were answered, as Rayquaza raised itself up as tall as it could and roared at the two approaching pokemon. The two pokemon stopped dead in their tracks at the bone rattling roar, and turned tail and ran.

"Thank you Rayquaza," Nicole said quietly. Rayquaza snaked his head down to eye level with the girl and growled quietly. "I didn't know what I would've done if they took me back to my dad- Oh no, my dad! Houndoom and Mightyena are going to go back to him and lead him here. Rayquaza you have to leave!"

The dragon growled in confusion, causing Nicole's pleas to intensify. "My dad it a pokemon hunter, if he finds you, he'll catch you too! Then it would be my entire fault if you got hurt. You have to run, please."

Suddenly the two figures were back, but this time they were joined by a man. "Well, look what you managed to find for me. Thank you Nicole, you've saved me a lot of trouble. Mightyena retrieve the girl, Houndoom use flamethrower!"

Mightyena ran towards Nicole and grabbed her by her jacket sleeve, causing her to cry out in fear. Rayquaza leapt into action, whacking Mightyena off of Nicole with its tail, before firing a dragon pulse at Houndoom's flame thrower, effectively fending it off.

"How did you manage to befriend this beast already? Ugh, no matter, Mightyena use shadow ball, Houndoom flamethrower!" The dogs charged up their attacks and Nicole moved closer to the dragon.

Rayquaza let out another roar, and suddenly, Nicole was jerked off of her feet. Nicole opened her eyes to find herself in Rayquaza's claws and zooming out of the cave, and into the stormy night air.

"… After that, he was always close by and ready to step in if I got in trouble. It wasn't until after I met Prof. Brich and he gave me this Master ball, that I actually caught him, even then I didn't want to."

"That's amazing," Iris said, "but I wonder why Rayquaza was in a cave. From what I've heard about it, it's usually in the sky."

Nicole gave a short shrug. "It beats me; all I know is that I was sure lucky he was there." Rayquaza seemed to agree as he gave a short huff of breath.

"The bond that the two of you share is simply delectable," Cilan exclaimed, causing both Ash and Iris to laugh nervously.

"How are you taking all this Ash? I know it's a lot to take in and I understand if you need some time."

Ash was silent for a moment. "It's definitely something that I'm going to have to get used to, but I guess in the end I'm glad I got to meet you."

"Even though you got hurt because of it," Nicole asked, taking a sudden interest in her sleeping bag.

"Of course!" Ash exclaimed catching Nicole off guard, bringing her attention back up to him. "It wasn't your fault and if a couple injuries are the price of reconnecting with my long lost sister that I never even knew about, I'm happy to pay it."

Nicole smiled sadly, "Thanks Ash, that's really sweet." She sounded like she was going to say something else but was cut off by her growling stomach.

"Well I guess that proves that you guys are related." Iris said, causing Nicole to rub the back of her head nervously.

"I guess that's my cue to get lunch ready." Cilan said as he got up and walked towards the table.

After a couple of minutes, Cilan called everyone one to the table. Iris helped Ash over to the table with Nicole and Rayquaza following close behind. They started eating, along with all of their pokemon.

As they ate, Nicole glanced at their pokemon. They were all eating happily, having their own conversation that even Rayquaza joined in on. She looked over at Ash, he was having conversation with Iris and Cilan about something and in between bites he would get really fired up about it. Nicole smiled at this; this was how it should be. She should be spending time with her brother, not running for her life. She looked down sadly; she couldn't do that until she knew for sure that her father couldn't chase after her anymore.

Ash glanced over at his sister, _'wow that's weird'_ he thought, and noticed how she was looking down at her food, seemingly lost in thought. "Nicole," Ash said softly.

The girl jerked out of her thought and stared at him. Noticing the worried glances that were all giving her she smiled. "Sorry, got lost in thought there for a moment." She rubbed the back of her head slowly and pick up another bite of food. Ash noticed her weird behavior, but said nothing of it and simply went back to eating, but he kept his eye on the older girl none the less.

After lunch, the trio had made their way back over to their sleeping bags, so that Ash could lie down, even though he kept insisting that he was fine. The group sat and talked, not able to do much more. Rayquaza had made his way over to the group and kept glancing at the sky.

"What's wrong with Rayquaza?" Iris asked, noticing the dragon's strange behavior.

Nicole stared at him and he stared down at her, growling slightly. "He thinks it's time for us to go."

"But you're not going to right?" Ash asked, causing the girl to bring her gaze to him before nodding. "Why, we took care of that hunter, he won't be coming back."

Nicole looked down. "I wish it were that simple, but he always comes back; and he always comes back with a stronger pokemon." She looked up and locked eyes with him. "I have to keep running until I know he can't hurt me anymore."

"Why couldn't you stay with us? We could help you fight him off."

"No," Nicole said sternly, but then she softened her voice. "It's a very generous offer, but it would only put you guys in danger, and I simply cannot put you in that position." Ash opened his mouth to put up another argument. "Ash, please this is already hard enough, but now that you know about me, you'll see me again. I won't have to hide from you anymore and I'll definitely come by and visit. You can't get rid of me that easily." She said the last part with a smirk.

Ash smiled sadly, "when will you leave?"

"Oh, I can stay until tomorrow morning, but that's probably the latest. If you're feeling up to it, I'll walk with you guys to the next town, but then it's best we go our separate ways, at least for the time being." This caused Ash's smile to brighten. He loved the thought of reuniting with his sister, even though he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he even had a sister.

The next morning after breakfast, the group packed up and headed back to the trail to head towards the town. The group moved slowly, so that Ash and Nicole, even though she wouldn't admit it, wouldn't over exert themselves. Rayquaza followed the group from above, so that if they ran into any travelers they wouldn't see him.

By the time the made it to the town, the sun was starting to set. They stopped at the nearest Pokemon Center to heal their pokemon before the group walked to the edge of town, just inside the tree line so that people wouldn't see them.

"Well this is where I depart." Nicole said as Rayquaza landed next to her. She walked over and gave Ash a hug. "I'll see you again Ash, no need to worry." They held the embrace for a moment before releasing.

"You know we will."Ash said as they released, Iris and Cilan nodded behind him.

"Thank you for all of your help, I hope the next time we meet it's under better circumstances."

"Us too," Iris said, looking over at Rayquaza. "Take care of her, okay Rayquaza." The dragon type growled happily in agreement as Nicole Climbed on to his back.

"Stay safe you guys." Nicole said as Rayquaza took off into the setting sun, leaving the trio wondering when they would see the girl again.


End file.
